Changing Careers? How to Sync Your LinkedIn Profile With Your Resume

I just came across a good post about LinkedIn profiles – read it here.

The author, Phil Rosenberg, points out that LinkedIn can be a gold mine for job seekers, but it’s also a potential trap. Here it is:

You know you’re supposed to tailor your resume for each job opening.

LinkedIn gives you ONE profile that prospective employers and colleagues will use to search for you.

If an employer sees contradictions between your LI profile and your resume, you risk being labeled inconsistent at best. You are juggling identities.

He offers three solutions: maintain one resume and one LI profile. That’s fine if you’re targeting a field narrowly where jobs are almost identical across companies.

Keep one profile and tailor your resumes. Since you’re targeting very similar jobs, you should be okay.

Create a broad umbrella that covers all your job and all versions of your resume.

Rosenberg doesn’t go into the question of career change, but you can probably see the problem here. When you’re changing careers, you may not be ready to focus on one target.

Well., here’s the thing. During a career change you might not want to be found on LinkedIn until you’ve got some clear idea of where you want to be and who should find you. The truth is, you might find yourself stumbling across a job or career you hadn’t heard of.

So I’d favor the broad approach to start. Be very honest about what you’ve done, but ramp up your explanation of possibilities. For instance, you could say, “Led 3 successful teams, demonstrating results from my ability to get six total strangers to work together cohesively.”

You can also contribute to forums so people get to know you.

What I would NOT do is admit, “I’m not sure. I’ll consider anything.” Prospective employers want to see your moves in a game -any game – instead of watching you getting in shape in the weight room just in case. And hopefully you’ll get introduced before your resume shows up, so you’re seen as playing a transition game, not wandering around looking for something to do.

Mixed metaphors? Guilty! Get in touch if you want me to look over your LI profile and/or resume